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Supporting the Judiciary

Recent Events

Meeting with the Chief Justice

BBA President Julia Huston (center) and BBA President-Elect Lisa Arrowood (left) met with Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court Ralph Gants to discuss key BBA objectives for the year ahead, such as funding for civil legal aid and supporting the judiciary.

The BBA is committed to advancing the highest standards of excellence for the legal profession, facilitating access to justice, and serving the community at large.

The BBA is always looking for ways to ensure that justice is administered fairly and efficiently. The Massachusetts judiciary has long been known for delivering quality justice. This is what every citizen in Massachusetts deserves and has come to expect.

The importance of our judiciary as a co-equal branch of government cannot be overstated.

The BBA was proud to recognized Chief Justice Roderick Ireland for his service as Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, remarkable 37 year career as an esteemed judge, relationship-building with all branches of government and commitment to community and diversity.

Hundreds came to pay their respects to Chief Justice Ireland, including representatives from all branches of government. Below: BBA Past President Paul Dacier (L), Attorney General Martha Coakley, and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo. To learn more about his service as a judge and efforts to connect with all branches of government, click here.

The BBA Council meets once a month to discuss association policy and issues surrounding the judiciary. The Council has invited guests with expertise in how our judiciary functions to share knowledge and generate ideas.

Court Administrator Harry Spence

Harry Spence, first Court Administrator of the Massachusetts Trial Court, visited the BBA Council in November. In his appointed position, created by court reorganization legislation enacted in 2011, he works in collaboration with the Chief Judge of the Trial Court to oversee the operation of seven Trial Court departments. He gave the Council a comprehensive view of the trial court system and discussed the Massachusetts Trial Court Strategic Plan, the importance of specialty courts and the constant push for innovation and technology. Read more about Spence’s presentation here, and President Dacier’s Take on the Massachusetts Trial Court Strategic Plan here, and “One Size Fits All Trial Courts” here.

Trial Court Chief Justice Paula Carey

Chief Justice Paula Carey, of the Trial Court, visited the BBA Council in January. She was appointed chief justice of the Trial Court in 2013 after serving 12 years as a judge, and as Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court Chief Justice since 2007. The BBA Council heard from Chief Justice Carey on the Courts’ daily needs and the impact of current court funding levels.

Budget Discussion with Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and Anthony Benedetti and Randy Gioia of CPCS

The Council meeting started with a presentation from Michael Widmer, President of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. He spoke about the economy from national, state, and municipal perspectives. He explained the difficulties of securing funding for discretionary parts of the budget, such as the courts, when non-discretionary items, such as health care and education, automatically take up more than half of the overall budget and income tax revenues are down compared to other time periods. Read more about his presentation here.

Two leaders of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti and Deputy Chief Counsel Public Defender Division Randy Gioia presented on the funding needs of public defenders and assistant district attorneys. These attorneys provide some of the most important services in the Commonwealth, but low salaries have resulted in problems of attrition. Read more here.

Lisa C. Goodheart was appointed to the CMAB in 2013. She is a former BBA President and partner at Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, P.C. who concentrates in environmental, real estate, and general business litigation.

Glenn Mangurian, is the chairman of the CMAB as well as being a consultant, speaker, and writer. He has been a leader in business and consulting in the Boston area for the last 25 years at CSC Index and as co-founder of FrontierWorks LLC. Read his post in the BBA’s leadership blog, Tipping the Scales entitled “Playing Not to Lose is a Losing Proposition.”

Specialty Courts Presentation at BBA Council

Georgia Critsley and Sheila Casey addressed the BBA Council to discuss Trial Court funding and the expansion of specialty courts. Read more about their presentation here.​

DISCUSSING through our blogs

The BBA uses blogs to provide our members with the latest information. Read Issue Spot to stay up to date.

Relationship building is one of the most important aspects of advocacy. The BBA understands that, while government may appear to be a collection of institutions, these are led and staffed by individuals who respond to personal communication. In the next few months the BBA will continue to make the case for adequate funding for the Judiciary when he meets with leaders in the City of Boston, and the state's House, Senate, and Executive branches.

City of Boston

BBA representatives met with Boston Mayor Martin Walsh to disciss BBA's public service initiatives and the city's role in the administration of justice.

The Executive Branch

The BBA met with Governor Deval Patrick to discuss court funding – specifically the Trial Court’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget request and the need for a judicial pay raise. We are pleased that the judicial pay raise was signed into law.

BBA Representatives met with the Governor’s Chief Legal Counsel Kate Cook and Deputy Chief Legal Counsel Jamie Hoag to discuss BBA priorities including support for the judiciary and legal services, juvenile justice issues, and the BBA Statewide Task Force to Expand Civil Legal Aid in Massachusetts. The BBA looks forward to working with the Governor’s office more on these and other issues that impact the legal community and access to justice in Massachusetts.

The Judicial Branch

Each year BBA sits down and talked with leaders in state and federal courts to discuss their specific needs, ideas, and concerns. Among those we met with are:

On March 6, 2014 the BBA attended the opening of the the new Veterans' Treatment Court Session at Boston Municipal Court. The session is staffed with specially trained judges, clinicians, probation officers, and attorneys in order to maximize the potential for positive outcomes for veterans and offer them the assistance they need.

The Legislative Branch

Equal Justice Coalition Legislative Recognition Reception

BBA representatives attended the Equal Justice Coalition's Legislative Recognition Reception, an annual event thanking legislators for their support for civil legal aid. Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, Senate President Therese Murray, Representative Brian Dempsey and Senator Stephen Brewer, co-chairs of the Committee on Ways & Means, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, and Eugene O'Flaherty, Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston, all received awards along with 68 House and Senate supporters of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation's FY14 budget amendment. Read more about the event here.

Meeting with Speaker DeLeo

BBA representatives met with Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo and House Chief Legal Counsel James C. Kennedy. They discussed the ways the Massachusetts Legislature and our Judiciary have worked together to bring recent reforms to our state courts. This was another opportunity to advocate for adequate funding for all parts of our justice system -- our state courts, prosecutors, public defenders, and also civil legal aid attorneys. The BBA will continue to work closely with Speaker DeLeo and the Massachusetts Legislature.

Walk to the Hill

On Thursday, January 30, 2014, the BBA, along with its partners at the Equal Justice Coalition took part in the 15th annual Walk to the Hill in the Great Hall at the State House. More than 600 lawyers from around the state convened at the statehouse and met with their state legislators to discuss the importance of civil legal aid funding. Increasing civil legal aid funding means service providers can help more clients, ultimately resulting in more efficient courtrooms, a true and fair adversarial process, and more justice for all. Click here for more pictures from this year's event.

See this fact and others in the EJC’s Managing Partners letter to Governor Patrick here. Read other letters from the EJC’s current and past letter campaigns here.

In 2013, the BBA launched its Statewide Task Force to Expand Civil Legal Aid in Massachusetts. Comprised of 27 leaders from around the state including representatives of the judicial, legislative, and executive branches, academia, the private bar, in-house counsel, and legal services attorneys, the Task Force is working to quantify and find solutions for civil legal aid shortages.

Click here to learn more about how to talk to your legislator about civil legal aid funding.